The Victor Davis Hanson Show

Episode: "Donald Trump Sets Europe Straight"

Hosts: Victor Davis Hanson & Jack Fowler
Date: August 21, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode focuses on analysis of the recent high-profile summit at the White House led by President Donald Trump, attended by major European leaders and Ukraine’s President Zelensky. The hosts discuss the diplomatic strategy, implications for the Ukraine conflict, dynamics of European dependency on the US, and broader shifts in American and European political culture. Additional segments address law enforcement and crime in US cities, the state of the FBI, left-wing ideological trends, third-party politics, and the historical context of European borders.

1. The White House Summit: Trump, Europe, and Ukraine

Trump’s Diplomatic Move (04:40–10:00)

• Context: The mainstream narrative suggested Trump would strike a deal with Putin excluding Ukraine and Europe.
• Trump’s Surprise: Instead, Trump convened European leaders, emphasizing multilateral action. European leaders attended, and Zelensky appeared in a ‘postmodern suit.’
  • VDH: “[Trump] orchestrated it. I mean, it was Emmanuel…like he was at a NATO conference. Daddy.” (06:10)
• Key US Commitment: No American ground troops, but the US will back Europe with air power if Russia invades Ukraine again.
• Underlying European Fear: Europeans acknowledged any lasting security depends on American military backing—“We can’t defend ourselves…we want you between us and Putin.” (13:15)
• Zelensky’s Position: Ukraine can’t officially cede Crimea/Donbass, but practical territorial status will likely be set along a DMZ.

Notable Quote

• Victor Davis Hanson:
  “The result of all of this Monday talking and diplomacy and haranguing and horse trading was that Trump said…he will be willing to back up the European ground support with air power. And…that will protect them.” (08:15)

The Europe-America Dynamic (10:00–15:46)

• Imagery: Fowler likens the summit to “the Pope and the College of Cardinals,” with Trump at the center.
• European Dependency:
  • Despite Europe’s population and GDP, its leaders “were there with a tin cup and they didn’t need to be” (14:55).
  • European “collective suicide”: falling fertility, dependency on US defense, self-defeating energy policy, border insecurity.
• US Under Trump: Restoring “dynamism, optimism, American strength…the most powerful nation. We have the biggest military, …the largest economy.”

Notable Quote

• VDH:
  “Here was one man and he was representing free enterprise, dynamism, optimism, American strength. And here were these seven others…basically they were there with a tin cup and they didn’t need to be.” (14:55)

2. Finland’s Example & Lessons for Ukraine (15:56–18:10)

• Finnish President Alexander Stubb:
  Reminded leaders that Finland survived by fighting Russia when invaded—then cut a deal to survive, ceding some territory but preserving sovereignty.
  • “Finland has an 800 mile border with Russia…they invaded us in 1939…you fight…but at some key point…you cut a deal.” (16:22)
• Finlandization: The need for realism in geopolitics—heroism is valuable, but survival may require compromise.

Notable Quote

• VDH (on Finland’s choice):
  “…when you’re stuck with this huge Russian juggernaut on your border…you fight…[but] you cut a deal…and they all survived.” (17:00)

3. US Crime, Policing, and Media Narratives

Policing & Crime in DC (20:09–26:00)

• National Guard Deployment: Trump’s move to bring order to Washington, DC, contrasts with media outrage, which portrays any such action as dictatorial.
• Statistical Reality vs. Elite Discourse:
  • The hosts discuss crime data, especially among young black males—controversial but central to their argument about crime and elite denial.
• Elite Hypocrisy:
  • Left-leaning wealthy elites are insulated from policy impacts but drive narratives that hurt black communities.
  • “You’ve got this crime problem in America…affects mostly the black community as victims…an elite…insulated from the problem they helped create.” (21:30)

Notable Moment

• Fowler:
  The “Trump-hating media” focuses on “creating a scandal” over law and order while ignoring the international summit’s importance. (18:10)

4. The Broken FBI, James Comey, and Institutional Decay

On James Comey (32:34–42:49)

• Comey’s Obsession with Trump:
  Hanson describes Comey as emotionally broken by Trump. Recaps Comey’s involvement in institutional scandal—the Clinton email case, Russian dossier, and Michael Flynn episode.
  • “He was laughing how he destroyed Mike Flynn.… and he destroyed Mike Flynn for no reason.” (37:36)
• FBI’s Reputation:
  Trust has plummeted, largely attributed to actions by Comey, Mueller, McCabe, Wray, et al.
  • “The whole bunch of them…really destroyed the reputation of the FBI…They were completely a rogue operation.” (41:17)

Memorable Quotes

• VDH:
  “He has a fatal flaw…arrogant and reckless and his emotions drive him.” (33:00)

5. Elon Musk, Third Parties, and 2028 Politics

Musk’s Political Maneuvering (45:27–49:00)

• No Third Party: Elon Musk is abandoning plans for a 3rd party, possibly backing JD Vance in 2028.
  • “It’s a logical move and I think Trump endorses it.” (48:32)
• Third Parties as Spoilers: Historical examples (Bull Moose, Perot, Nader) show US system resists them; only serve as spoilers.

6. Cincinnati Incident & Racial Politics

The Cincinnati Beatdown (50:11–61:35)

• Context: After a racially charged attack in Cincinnati, black leaders blame the white victim, claiming bias.
• Hanson’s Analysis:
  • This is emblematic of national dysfunction: refusal to confront root causes of black-on-black and interracial crime, blaming white society, and elite silence.
  • “It is a black issue that everybody in the United States is worried about.” (53:15)
• Political Implications:
  • Growing minority support for Trump (citing 26% of black males, rising Hispanic support in 2024).
  • Americans, Hanson argues, are tired of reflexive accusations of racism and want a colorblind, merit-based approach.

Notable Quote

• VDH:
  “Fifty years ago, racist…was a career ending epithet. Today…it means nothing.” (60:00)

7. Europe, Sovereignty, and the Helsinki Accords

50th Anniversary Reflections (63:57–71:16)

• Helsinki Accords Principles: Fowler remarks on their irony in current Europe given mass migration, loss of sovereignty.
  • “They don’t have sovereignty anymore…the EU can tell Poland they not only can’t control their borders, but they have to take illegal aliens.” (66:00)
• Socialism and Utopianism:
  • Hanson links bureaucratic, undemocratic structures of the EU to ancient utopian ideals doomed by human nature.
  • Leftist elites maintain privilege while virtue-signaling—e.g., Stanford students with "Black Lives Matter" on BMWs.
• Leftism as Psychological Mechanism:
  • “Leftistism is a psychological mechanism of squaring a circle that you’re very, very selfish. And you’re so selfish that you construct an abstract belief system in which you’re so unselfish.” (69:23)

Notable Quote

• VDH:
  “Once you have that embedded socialism, it’s very hard to defend the ideas of nationalism, patriotism, border sovereignty.” (67:00)

8. Border Changes, History, and Collective Memory

• Listener Comment: A listener shares family history of border changes, expulsions, and suffering following WWII in Silesia and Poland.
• VDH Response:
  • Western Ukraine used to be Poland, Crimea had independence; border shifts are recent and fraught, but left ignores this context in Ukraine debates.

Notable Quote

• VDH:
  “They have no idea that western Ukraine was Poland until 1939 and stolen by Joseph Stalin and ethnically cleansed of every Roman Catholic Polish speaker and that became western Ukraine.” (73:10)

9. Tone, Language, and Show Atmosphere

• The discussion is frank, at times combative, blending deep historical references, statistical claims, and cultural critique. Tone is often sardonic, world-weary, and unapologetically critical of current left-liberal orthodoxies in the US and Europe.

Key Timestamps

• [04:40–10:00] Trump’s diplomatic breakthrough at the European summit
• [10:00–15:46] Europe’s “tin cup” dependency on US power
• [15:56–18:10] Finlandization and realist lessons for Ukraine
• [20:09–26:00] Policing in DC, black-on-black crime, and elite denial
• [32:34–42:49] The Comey saga and FBI’s institutional decline
• [45:27–49:00] Elon Musk and the futility of third parties
• [50:11–61:35] Cincinnati attack—race, crime, and political polarization
• [63:57–71:16] Helsinki Accords, EU loss of sovereignty, leftism, and class hypocrisy
• [73:07–74:58] Historical context for contemporary borders in Ukraine

Memorable Moments & Quotes

• “Here was one man…representing free enterprise…American strength. And here were these seven others…with a tin cup.” (VDH, 14:55)
• On James Comey: “He was laughing how he destroyed Mike Flynn…And he destroyed Mike Flynn for no reason.” (VDH, 37:36)
• “Fifty years ago, racist…was a career ending epithet. Today…it means nothing.” (VDH, 60:00)
• “Leftistism is a psychological mechanism…that you’re very, very selfish…and you construct an abstract belief system in which you’re so unselfish.” (VDH, 69:23)

Conclusion

This episode unpacks the shifting global order symbolized by the Trump-led summit, the continued reliance of Europe on American military superiority, and a host of American and Western cultural controversies. Victor Davis Hanson and Jack Fowler argue that the West’s path forward requires hard choices, a clear-eyed understanding of history, and a rejection of what they cast as the failed dogmas of the current liberal-elite establishment—domestically and abroad.

Note:
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